Biden Administration Reverses Rule on Fetal Tissue Research

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced last week that the department plans to rescind restrictions on fetal tissue research put in place during the Trump administration. The 2019 restrictions included a ban on National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding research involving newly obtained fetal tissue from abortions and a requirement that applicants for NIH funds go through an Ethics Advisory Board review process. 

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued a statement in response to the policy change. "The bodies of children killed by abortion deserve the same respect as that of any other person," said Naumann. "Our government has no right to treat innocent abortion victims as a commodity that can be scavenged for body parts to be used in research." Calling the use of tax dollars for this type of research "offensive to millions of Americans," Archbishop Naumann challenged the Biden Administration to fund ethical research that does not depend on body parts taken from victims of abortion.